Seven States: Practical Magic

The Seven States of Magic that I’m developing defines mortal, or “natural” magic, as the first type of magic. Natural magic includes lots of things that are encountered in the “real world,” like plants and animals, rocks, water, trees, and so forth — in their typical, non-sentient forms. It might not seem magical, but the point is to assume that everything about the world is magical in some way, and design with this idea in mind.

Mortal magic focuses on endurance and cunning. Winning the day through through trial and error, force of will, not unlike Gurren Lagann’s “spiral power.” Humans and other mortal creatures have the innate ability to exceed their own normal limitations, often temporarily or permanently assuming one or more traits of the other magic types. Don’t be fooled into thinking this is like D&D’s “humans are adaptable” malarkey. (I’ll make a note to rant about that later.)

Humans, animals, rocks, and trees — mortals — are tenacious creatures. They strive to survive, they adapt to their environments, and they live. They keep living, and they keep striving, long after other things have laid down and died. Mortals have hope and pride, the intelligence, the will, and the way, to go “beyond the impossible,” and the ambition to try it. Natural magic is about enhancing and exploiting the abilities innate to a creature’s body; natural magic is form following function following form; chicken-egging.